He hasn't officially entered the race yet, but Democratic sources have all but assured that state Comptroller Dan Hynes will enter the party's gubernatorial primary within a matter of days. Gov. Pat Quinn didn't waste any time getting in the first dig at his new challenger, criticizing Hynes for his lack of leadership during the legislative budget negotiations earlier this summer:

Quinn said while he went to bat against lawmakers who sent him an unbalanced budget, "a lot of financial people in government, I didn't hear from. I didn't hear anything."

"And I think they need to, you know, ask themselves if you want to be a governor, you can't be somebody who's a no-show when it counts," Quinn said.

Hynes issued a response just a few moments ago. The Capitol Fax has the release:

“Governor Quinn is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. After Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn spent 6 years in silence watching Rod Blagojevich drive our state into a ditch it is puzzling that he describes a 50% income tax increase on Illinois families as leadership. Comptroller Hynes sent Governor Quinn two letters this past year laying out $1.2 billion in cuts along with alternative revenue sources and urged the Governor not to incite panic in order to pass a 50% tax increase on the backs of working families. While Quinn flip-flopped on his own plans for the last six months, he couldn’t find the time to read either letter.”

Hynes is absolutely right that he sent two letters to Quinn outlining specific cuts that could be made to shrink the deficit by $1.2 billion, including eliminating foreign trade offices, closing unspecified corporate loopholes, and imposing a 5 percent across-the-board cut in grants and agency operations. He also floated $1.8 billion in new revenue ideas, like higher cigarette taxes, expanded gaming (which House Speaker Michael Madigan had already rejected) and applying the sales tax to "luxury items" such as spas and tanning salons. But even with those changes, his "alternative" didn't come close to filling the state's deficit.